Applicant is aware of the following U.S. Pat. Nos., all of which relate to holder constructions of various types: 3,452,955, issued Jul. 1, 1969, 4,121,798, issued Oct. 24, 1978, 4,320,832, issued Mar. 23, 1982, 3,747,166, issued Jul. 24, 1973, 3,881,677, issued May 6, 1975, 3,907,239, issued Sep. 23, 1975, 4,040,547, issued Aug. 9, 1977, 4,672,703, issued Jun. 16, 1987, and 4,431,154, issued Feb. 14, 1984.
Some of the afore-referenced patents are worthy of comment. U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,703 discloses an apparatus for positioning control devices near a bed. The apparatus comprises an open framework constructed of metal wire which is shaped and fabricated to accommodate television control devices, call buttons and the like.
While the patent teaches the idea of dipping the framework to provide a vinyl coating for the wire, it will be appreciated that normal wear and tear caused by removal and replacement of the devices which the framework is designed to hold will inevitably cause the metal wire to be exposed, thus creating an electrical hazard. Furthermore, the framework of this patent defines compartments which do not readily lend themselves to use with other than one specific size of electrical device. Patient communication devices, for example, do not have communicator body standardized sizes. With an open framework of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,703, various sized communicator bodies might very well fall out.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,154 discloses communication device holders which suffer from similar deficiencies. That is, they do no readily lend themselves to accommodation of communicator bodies of various sizes. Furthermore, there is no specific teaching of employing a holder housing which is formed of electrically non-conductive material. As stated above, metal and other electrically conductive materials are not suitable for such purpose because of the danger of a direct connection between the bed rail in the case of a short in the wiring. Heart patients, for example, could be seriously injured or even killed by even minor electrical shock.
The other patents noted above are of even less pertinence to the present invention. Employment of such devices would appear to constitute little if any improvement over the jury-rigged arrangements commonly used in hospitals and rest homes involving the tieing of communicator cords to bed frames. Safety of the holder along with convenience of utilizing the holder and allowing ready access by the patient are probably the two primary considerations when dealing with patient communication devices. The arrangements of all of the patents set forth above are deficient to at least some degree in this regard.